Wanted to drop a line saying "Hi" and to give a little heads up about me! Almost wish I could say that I'm in the throes of having a mid-life crisis, but in actuality I've wanted to ride ever since my first MC experience as a passenger on the back of a 1975 Harley when I was 8! Life always managed to get in the way of that desire until recently when I finally managed to settle down (at the still tender age of 43 LOL!) I decided to take a good friend of mine up on his offer to teach me how to ride on his crotch rocket (1984 Kawasaki GPz 550). So far so good at keeping the *mostly* shiny side up and not making any new marks on his farings Granted, I haven't shifted out of 1st gear yet (am going at my own comfortable pace). I definitely decided that small and fast aren't my style, and I'm not the biggest guy in the world either (no Ultra Glide, TYVM). So I've been keeping an eye out for what I consider the 'perfect' cycle for me. My friend made a couple of suggestions, and I became attracted to a 1992 Vulcan 750 that was posted on Craigslist in a town nearby. My friend and I went, saw, inspected and listened to the healthy 14,000 mile machine. Brought it home two days later! So now I'm readying for the journey of MC ownership, signed up for a novice riding and safety course and picking up as much as I can along the way.

I'm looking forward to interacting with the members of this forum! I've got tons of questions, an answer here and there as well as an eagerness to enjoy my Vulcan 750 as much as possible.

While I am new to cycles , I'm not new to forums by any means... you won't need kid gloves around me. Thanks, and Cheers!!

welcome to the forum and riding, good call on the safety course you will learn a lot. gear will save your rear, its not just to look cool! plent of ansers on your bike here, search and read the verses section a lot of good info in there! others will chime in soon and have links in their sig line such as "top 10 things a rider should know" have fun and more importantly watch the cagers, act as if they are all out to kill you!

Welcome to the livin to ride world! Make sure you got the basics down before you head out into the cagers world! The basic course is great and will help but you'll want to take to some easy neighborhood streets and the routes less taken for awhile. Enjoy the ride! It's been good for me!

Wanted to drop a line saying "Hi" and to give a little heads up about me! Almost wish I could say that I'm in the throes of having a mid-life crisis, but in actuality I've wanted to ride ever since my first MC experience as a passenger on the back of a 1975 Harley when I was 8! Life always managed to get in the way of that desire until recently when I finally managed to settle down (at the still tender age of 43 LOL!) I decided to take a good friend of mine up on his offer to teach me how to ride on his crotch rocket (1984 Kawasaki GPz 550). So far so good at keeping the *mostly* shiny side up and not making any new marks on his farings Granted, I haven't shifted out of 1st gear yet (am going at my own comfortable pace). I definitely decided that small and fast aren't my style, and I'm not the biggest guy in the world either (no Ultra Glide, TYVM). So I've been keeping an eye out for what I consider the 'perfect' cycle for me. My friend made a couple of suggestions, and I became attracted to a 1992 Vulcan 750 that was posted on Craigslist in a town nearby. My friend and I went, saw, inspected and listened to the healthy 14,000 mile machine. Brought it home two days later! So now I'm readying for the journey of MC ownership, signed up for a novice riding and safety course and picking up as much as I can along the way.

I'm looking forward to interacting with the members of this forum! I've got tons of questions, an answer here and there as well as an eagerness to enjoy my Vulcan 750 as much as possible.

While I am new to cycles , I'm not new to forums by any means... you won't need kid gloves around me. Thanks, and Cheers!!

Welcome to the place of wonerful people who always be helpful to others. And congrats for your new ride Enjoy

Thanks everyone! For now, I'm sticking to the residential streets around my house. Can't go fast, and they aren't paved. I told my friend that I'd rather learn on less than desirable surfaces because 1- less injury to myself and the bike in case I lay it down 2- no choice but to respect the machine and how it reacts to different surfaces.

Michigan recently did away with helmet laws (for whatever reason), but I'm not going to use it as an excuse to not be safe. I plan on acquiring a good full face helmet and riding jacket by the end of the weekend.

I've never heard the term 'cagers'... but I'm presuming you mean non-bikers. One thing that does make me nervous is the atrocious driving habits of some of the other drivers that I see every day just going to and from work *where did some of these folks get their licenses from, a Cracker-Jack box??* LOL! My buddy tells me that in his opinion, there are only two safe places to be on the road... in front of the pack and behind. I can see his point.

For me, I'm looking for the same feeling I get when I drive my BMW... a great riding experience on a machine that's incredibly rewarding ;-)

Cages=cars is about what I suspected... and yeah, too many drivers either don't know or don't care about how close is too close behind a rider... and they like to pace along side, too.

My BMW is a hard top. I have a 1992 (same year as the Vulcan, coincidentally) BMW 7 series. I've had it for about 6 years and can only really describe it as being a very rewarding machine. This Vulcan seems to be right up there with it, IMHO I rode it for the first time this evening around my neighborhood (yes, standard tires and the roads around my house are un-paved.) There is no doubt that certain maneuvers are just plain dangerous on loose surfaces, but I don't want to take anything for granted either. I'd rather learn how to finesse the throttle and brakes now than get caught by surprise later

Without off-road tires, gravel is not your friend...even with them, it's not. But it can be had with great care and finesse, as you note, so be gentle and clever, go rather slowly, but fast enough to keep Newton's laws working for you, and have fun! You're wise to try different surfaces in a controlled atmosphere so you aren't taken aback if you have a sudden encounter. Remember: if there are gravel driveways along a paved road, there is very likely gravel dragged out onto the road at those places, too, and gravel on paving is more likely to trip you up than if you're on gravel, or at least expecting it... careful in those spots, especially around corners and curves.

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